Prevalence of Drug and Substance Use among Malaysian Youth: A Nationwide Survey

Abstract

Uncontrolled drug and substance use (DSU) may pose unprecedented threats to nation building and a country’s socioeconomic development. Despite considerable efforts made and resources used to address DSU concerns, Malaysia has seen a significant annual rise in cases of DSU. The bulk of the reported cases originate from youth between the ages of 15 and 40 years. To date, data related to DSU in Malaysia have been entirely dependent on operation statistics, arrest counts, and reported cases; DSU may therefore be under-reported and the data obtained not representative at the national level. This study aims to determine the prevalence of DSU among Malaysian youth through a large nationwide representative survey. Of the population of 11,129,316 youth aged 15–40 years, the prevalence of DSU among lifetime users was found to be 5.5%, while for those who had taken drugs in the past 30 days or who currently use them, the prevalence of DSU was found to be 3.5%. The most popular drugs for lifetime users were kratom or Mitragyna speciosa, while for current users the most popular drug was cannabis. The current study reports the magnitude of the problem at a country-wide level, which is a crucial preliminary effort for crafting evidence-based and well-informed policies.

Research and publication gaps on kratom and kratom products: a scoping review of current literature

“…Between 2022 and 2023, there were two publications reporting data on kratom use collected through nationwide surveys conducted in Malaysia [63 ▪▪ ,64 ▪▪ ].…”

“…In the national Drug and Substance Use (DSU) survey conducted in Malaysia between January 2020 and July 2021 among persons 15–40 years old, 2.8% responders reported lifetime prevalence of kratom ( M. speciosa ) use, and 1.5% responders reported kratom use within the past 30 days of being surveyed [63 ▪▪ ]. A secondary analysis of 2019 data collected through the National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) enrolling a total of 10 472 Malaysians aged 18 years and older reported 0.40% (95% CI 0.22–0.56%) rate of kratom use within the past 30 days of being surveyed, and that individuals reporting kratom use also had a high probability of reporting the use of other substances [64 ▪▪ ].…”

“…During the reviewed period, there were eight original research studies published that are based on largescale national surveys or data from national health systems [59][60][61][62]63 && ,64 && ,65 && ,66]. They included four studies based on data from the US National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), two nationwide surveys conducted in Malaysia, and two publications based on data pertaining to kratom-related or mitragynine-related public health concerns or adverse health events identified in national health systems.…”

Patterns of polysubstance use among adults in Malaysia—A latent class analysis

“…Despite having some information pertaining to polysubstance use in Malaysia, existing studies are limited to specific populations such as injection drug users [ 23 , 24 ], prisoner [ 25 ], and men who have sex with men (MSM) [ 26 ]. The study on polysubstance use at the national level was only reported among adolescent (aged 13–17 years) [ 27 ] and youth (15–40 years) [ 28 ]. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate a nationally representative sample of the adult population to provide information for the development of theories explaining the pattern of polysubstance use.…”

The Implementation of Contingency Management Intervention in an Institutionalized Drugs Treatment Facility in Malaysia

“…According to the statistic, around 126,390 addicts were identified during the period of 5 years from 2016 to 2020. Relapse rates for the period of five years showed an average of 29.4% of the overall cases detected (National Anti-Drugs Agency, n.d., 2021) In dealing with the growing problems of substance use disorders, the need for a better and more effective intervention to treat this disorder is extremely high (Ismail et al, 2022;Ting Chie et al, 2016). Many researchers in the field of behavioural change have made numerous studies to better understand and contribute to more effective interventions in the field of substance use disorders.…”